The Netherlands has apologized to Russia for the detention of its diplomat, which violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.
The apologies came from Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who acknowledged that the diplomatic immunity of Russian minister-counselor Dmitry Borodin was infringed by local police.
"The minister personally expressed his apologies to our
ambassador in the Netherlands, and said that he would hand the
results of the police investigation over to the Russian
side," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr
Lukashevich.
Earlier, Dutch officials said that they would apologize only if
the inquiry into the incident proved that the Vienna Convention
had been violated.
Borodin said he was badly beaten by unidentified men in
camouflage uniforms who forced their way into his apartment in
The Hague on Saturday evening.
Russia has complained that the diplomat was then handcuffed and
taken to a police station where he was held for several hours
without explanation.
The Russian Embassy in the Netherlands said that his children,
aged four and one, had to spend the night in a police station as
well.
Borodin went on to say that the intruders didn’t produce any
official documents proving that they were from the police.
Moreover, they ignored him when he said he was a diplomat, he
said.
The incident provoked a strong reaction from the Russian
authorities, with President Vladimir Putin demanding an official
explanation.
"We are awaiting an explanation, an apology and also
punishment of those responsible," Putin said at a news
conference after attending the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia. He
added that Russia’s reaction would depending on what action the
Dutch would take.
The Dutch media reported that the police was summoned to
Borodin’s home because they had received reports from his
neighbors about the mistreatment of his children.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said that the detention of the Russian
diplomat had nothing to do with recent tensions between the two
countries over the continued detention of Greenpeace activists
who staged a protest at a Russian oil rig off Russia’s Arctic
coast.